


What Now?

by ProbablyJozo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Destruction Aftermath, Fantasy, Fire, Gen, Kingdom Destruction, Swearing, it's kinda gay but technically they just met so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyJozo/pseuds/ProbablyJozo
Summary: When searching the ruins of the kingdom for survivors (because surely they can't have destroyed an entire populace in a day, the kingdom had been thriving, hadn't it?), Gami and Jayden find a disgruntled teenaged boy trying to (badly) calm down a crying little girl.
Kudos: 1





	What Now?

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off an old story concept I never developed, where a prince is forced to journey with the only survivors of his kingdom's destruction in order to bring a little girl to safety (classic found family story). It's also based off the Lone Star audio that went around TikTok a couple of months back (Benji's last lines of dialogue).
> 
> Names that are never mentioned because they just met and don't introduce themselves because they're assholes:  
> Gami - the prince (and narrator)  
> Benji - the boy  
> Lilly/Ducky - the little girl  
> Jayden - the apprentice mage ordered to protect Gami

The young girl scrambled past me, sobbing and coughing as the smoke still present in the air attacked her lungs. She barrelled straight into Jayden’s legs, grabbing and hugging tightly as she hiccuped through her tears, and the mage wrapped their arms around her almost instinctively, despite the shock still clearly running through them.

I wasn’t surprised she had gone for Jayden. They were clearly the oldest out of the four of us, their face almost motherly in nature, and from what I’ve seen children tend to think tall people give more protection. The purple scarf tied around their waist also showed their royal status, so the kid must have known she could trust them.

Despite wearing my own scarf (orange, the colour of the royal family), I was still clearly younger than Jayden, and probably looked less caring as well. And the other option was a boy who I would have never run to for comfort.

With a disgruntled scowl and worn-down clothes, the boy was not a sight to see. He was younger than me, if his height and face were any indication, but his eyes were hardened in a way so unlike the other teenagers I had been used to seeing around the kingdom. He carried himself as if he were ready to fight or bolt at any moment, and with his scruffy blond hair I was almost convinced he was the young girl’s older brother—if not for the way she had fled in tears from him the moment she’d noticed me and Jayden approach.

Currently, he was eyeing me as if I were something disgusting.

“Why am I not surprised they managed to protect one of the royal family?” he muttered, low and judging. The distaste in his voice scraped against my nerves.

“They shoved me in a bunker with a mage under strict instructions that I would not be let out until it was over, I had no choice in this,” I said, not caring enough to hide the bitter tone. Whether I was bitter at him or the situation, I didn’t know. At the time I’d been mad, demanding Jayden let me out to fight and protect the kingdom; looking at the resulting damage, however, I was almost glad Jayden had refused to break orders.

It wasn’t a nice taste knowing you were a sitting duck as your kingdom fell into ruin, though.

The boy scoffed, turning away from me to look out over the damaged buildings. “Are you complaining? You’re alive. That’s a fucking good thing.”

Something about the annoyance in his tone had me glaring at his side, so I decided not to comment. “What about you, huh? How did you survive?” Edging on uncomfortable, I turned but still kept an eye on him, watching. “And the girl, for that matter.”

“Dunno what the kid was doing, but she wasn’t here during the attack, that’s for sure,” the boy replied, way too uncaring about the situation. No sadness coloured his tone, only bitter tiredness. “Found her rummaging around what I assume is her old home, looking for her parents. I don’t think she knows what happened, just that everything is gone.” For a moment, his eyes flickered over to me. “And _I_ am none of your business.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I grumbled, finally looking away.

We stood like that for a couple of seconds, the sound of dying embers and stifled cries being our only background music, before he let out a dark chuckle.

“So what now, your every-royal-highness?” he asked, sour and mocking. I didn’t look at him. “This is your kingdom. We’re all that’s left. What now?”

“...I don’t know,” I muttered, and maybe he didn’t hear me, but if he did then he had nothing to say because we fell back into a dark silence.

For the first time since getting out of the palace, I got to really look at the damage. Debris littered the streets, evidence of ugly demolition scattered everywhere as once-strong buildings blended into each other on the ground. The darkened sky was tinted orange by the flames that had yet to die out, the telltale crackle loud and obnoxious in the quiet of the night. If I thought about it for long enough, I could point out where different buildings once stood. There was the library my mother used to drag me to every Sunday afternoon. There was the beloved theatre that was always full of people. There was the bakery that one of my friends in the palace guard had always loved. They were all gone now.

My entire life, reduced to rubble—and I was left behind.

I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes and immediately pulled away from the sight, refusing to look at my ‘kingdom’ any longer than I had to. My gaze, once again, fell on the unkempt boy, who was staring out into the rubble with an unreadable expression. Behind me, I heard Jayden start to whisper to the kid, but I paid them no mind.

In the small amount of time we hadn’t been talking, the boy had...softened, in a way. He no longer looked prepared to pounce on anything that threatened him, but instead looked more contemplative, lost in his thoughts. I had no idea what he could be thinking (was there a home he lost, people he needed to look for?) but it took him off his guard, and I almost felt bad for him.

The tears hadn’t fallen, but they were still there. I blinked, and only made my vision more blurry.

He looked at me then, possibly as a glance, only to recoil as our eyes met unexpectedly. I stood my ground and watched as his eyes (which were that one shade of green you could almost call blue) flitted around, taking in different parts of me. I didn’t know what he was doing, and from the look on his face I didn’t think he knew either.

Eventually, his gaze landed on my waist, locking onto the orange scarf and studying it. I watched as his eyes once again hardened, his face schooling itself back into a snarl as whatever he was thinking about found its conclusion.

When his gaze snapped back up to mine, it was fierce.

“Hey, prince,” he said, a bite to his words that caught me off guard. “The royal family was religious, weren’t they? You into angels and that kinda crap?”

Too stunned by everything, I didn’t answer. He chuckled lowly.

“Well, if you still believe in a great god above…” His voice was rising, touching on delirious. “Then you better get on your hands and knees and fucking pray for us!”

He turned away and started laughing, a desperate sound filled with hiccups and gasps. I could see it clearly—he was crying too.

“God...god knows we fucking need it.”


End file.
